March 2022 Newsletter CONTENTS

  • Microbes and Social Equity
  • Tools for Changemakers
  • Multi-Species Cities
  • Design for Planet School for Village Hosts
  • Meetups/Retreats
  • Offsites for Teams

MICROBES AND SOCIAL EQUITY (VIDEO)
Ninety nine percent of life is invisible – so how do we design for that? To begin that conversation, I talked with Dr. Suzanne Ishaq – a microbiome researcher and founder of the Microbes and Social Equity working group. https://youtu.be/cdFaJLt89ck

TOOLS FOR CHANGEMAKERS (VIDEO)
Mutualaid. Local money. Collaborative care. Alternative futures are being created around the world – but not, for the most part, in plain sight. I talked with David Bollier about his new book which brings dozens of social projects like these to the fore. youtube.com/watch?v=iiOLJgbCsO4&t=485s

YOUTUBE (OUR NEW CHANNEL)

Please consider subscribing. youtube.com/johnthackaravideos

Design for Multi-Species Cities (PROJECT REPORT)
What would it mean to practice design in the knowledge that the well-being of humans, and non-humans, is inter-connected? A recent design workshop in Milan explored just this question: practical ways to make cities hospitable for all of life, not just human life. Students chose from three aspects of green infrastructure: a) Soil Care, Composting, Fermentation; b) Trees, Microparks, Edible Forest; c) Microbiome Inspired Green Infrastructure (MIGI) lifeworlds-multi-species-cities-and-relational-design

DESIGN FOR PLANET: people, soils, animals, plants (TEXT)
In what practical ways can design engage with places as living systems? Ways that are regenerative, and not its opposite? @designcouncil asked its eight Design For Planet Fellows, of which I am one, to share “an inspiring design”. I chose a project at Luma Arles, called Regenerative Empathy, about the design of new relationships between people, soils, animals, and plants in the Camargue bioregion in southern France. thackara.com/place-bioregion/an-inspiring-design/

SCHOOL FOR VILLAGE HOSTS
Who needs a ‘Village Host’? Well, in Italy alone, 5,500 small villages (those with 5,000 or fewer inhabitants) have been declining; in Spain, 3,500; in Serbia, 4,700 – to name just three of the countries involved in this new project. Many new activities and livelihoods are emerging – post-Covid tourism, agro-ecology, land-based learning – but such projects do not organise themselves. Read more about about this pan-European Erasmus+ project (which I’m advising) here: thackara.com/learning-design/open-school-for-village-hosts/

BACK TO THE LAND 2.0 SUMMER COURSE, SWEDEN
Summer masters course on sustainable food systems and biodiversity. 20 June to 28 August. The registration deadline has passed, but you can join a waiting list. www.backtotheland.se/

THACKARA MEETUPS / RETREATS I’m hosting three Meetups this summer at our home in southern France. If you are a designer, architect, project curator, postgrad student, researcher, or writer – and could use some help focusing your thesis, project, or book -– this year’s dates are:

24 May – 31 May
14 June – 21 June
7 July – 14 July
30 August – 6 September

You can apply by sending an email to meeting@thackara.com, describing your project and/or why you’d like to participate. For further information look at thackara.com/meetinfrance

Offsites for Teams If you want to bring a small team for an independent Offsite – maybe for fewer days – please get in touch. I can be available for sessions during your stay if you wish – but you determine the programme.